Reviews of what I'm reading. Mostly in the Horror genre, but you never know.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Suckers - by Z. Rider - Something totally original in the Horror genre

4 of 5 Stars Review copy

Jaime & Ray Ford, and Danny Ferry are the musicians who make up "Two Tons of Dirt." You might think, what a cool band name, what's it mean? According to Ray - 'Cause that's how much they throw on your grave.

It's seems like they've been on tour for years, but it's finally winding down. Time to get back home and work on their next album. Just a few more dates. After a show in North Carolina, Dan and Ray decide to walk back to their hotel and take a shortcut through an alley. Uh, oh. Shortcuts, alleys, and horror novels are NEVER a good combination. This is where Dan is attacked and bit on the back of his neck by something.

"The thing smacked into the back of his neck like a softball, pitching him forward." Was it a bat? If it wasn't, what could it be? Before long, Dan is fighting headaches and then there's the buzzing, like bees, driving him to distraction. So much so, he winds up slapping his car, hard. Hard enough to slice the edge of his hand, drawing blood. When he shoves the cut in his mouth and sucks the blood to stem the bleeding, the buzzing stops and the headaches are gone. And so it begins.

Although, Dan and his band mates aren't the only ones affected, they do come up with an effective way of dealing with what is happening. Not everyone is so lucky, if you want to call what they have to do, lucky. While the world around them deteriorates, they gather together family and friends together and try to avoid venturing out after dark.

A lot of the story is about the band-mates and their relationships. The author did an exceptional job developing these characters and giving the reader the chance to truly get to know them. At times delightfully disgusting, Suckers is a completely original horror story and as crazy as the premise is, it certainly seems within the realm of possibility.

Available now, as a paperback and for the Kindle, through Amazon.com Suckers is one horror fans shouldn't miss.